Door Inspiration from Across the Pond

While I was on Holiday in England, I was struck with the beauty of all the English doors I would encounter both in the English countryside and in London. Everyone seemed unafraid of using color, lovely hardware etc. to  make their front doors stand out. I started an impromptu #dooroftheday on my 

Instagram

 after falling in love with all the pretty doors I would see, a fun way to share my love of pretty front doors. Follow me on Instagram @mrsclh to see more of these fabulous English doors and musings from my day to day. 

A quick fun fact about English doors, most doors in England don't have the traditional 'American Door Knob,' most of the doors in the United Kingdom have night latches instead and also use old fashioned skeleton keys, if a door does have a knob its usually placed in the center of the door. Its so cool how country can be so similar, yet have subtle differences. 

Here's a roundup of fantastic inspirational doors. 

Here's proof that even if your home has a brick exterior you don't have to play it safe and paint your door a basic color: red, white or black. This green door looks so good paired with the aging brick on this lovely home. On my house, we have a mixture of brick + siding and I went with the bold

fun color of Chartreuse

 for my door, and couldn't be happier. 

Many homes in England are 

terraced houses

 which are a row of mirror houses that share side walls, making it hard to stand out in a crowd. One way to help give your house more personality is by having a bright colored door or unique front door. I loved seeing terraced houses side by side that looked so unique to do their

 door choices and paint color. 

This wood arched door is to die for, trust me when I say its even more stunning in person. 

This Parisian door, stole my heart while in vising Paris for the day. I intend to print this door out and frame it, I know whenever I see it I'll think of Paris. 

I hope you enjoyed a few of my favorite doors, I came across while on my Holiday. I put together several ideas for to take your front door from blah to wow, that I'm sharing next week on the blog! Do you also have a thing with lovely doors? Do they also stop you in your tracks and make stop and take pics? 

7 Vacation Present Ideas for Kids

I recently returned from a two week Holiday in England visiting my best friend, we had a fabulous time. I'm head over in heels in love with England and looking forward to going back! While there I wanted to bring home some presents for my kids that would go beyond typical souvenirs, like t-shirts and key chains. Although I bought those too! I really want my kids to have a love of traveling, I've traveled around several parts of the United States but never internationally until recently. Having just taken my first trip aboard, its really solidified a need inside me to explore other countries and get several stamps in my passport. Getting my first stamp in my passport was so exciting, I smiled for ear to ear. 

I decided to buy presents for my kids that would help spark their own love of travel for destinations far away. I'm so looking forward to taking my kids or their first international trip. However, I'm not necessary looking forward to the long flight with them! 

While visiting, we spent a day trip in Paris and while there, I bought Avery a French kids book, and I don't speak French! The pictures in the book looked adorable, I decided to translate

 every page so we can read the book together. I also bought two Babar prints and Spider-man print from a street vendor while walking along the Siene River, I'm looking forward to hanging the prints in their rooms. I love that the Babar prints are both in French, one is a counting print and the other a book cover print. While in visiting around England, I bought Avery a few more kids books and Tabari a license plate from his favorite team. He loved that the license plates in the UK are so huge! 

I've rounded up a list of present ideas for your kids to obtain on your next vacation that hopefully will spark their love of travel and sense of wonder about how other places in the US and across the globe live. 

1.

Books

: Look for books that are distinctive to the State or Country your visiting. Language How To books for kids are so much fun to buy and then practice with your kids on how to say the words. Books about the a State of Country's history presented in fun learning way is also a fun way to learn about other cultures. 

2.

Games

: During your vacation try and locate family game that you can also play when you return home. Maybe there's a Italian version of Life that would be fun to play home?

3.

Maps

: If your going on lots of day trips of visiting various historical sites while on vacation, purchase a map that includes the points of interest and mark the places on the map you visited. Alternatively Etsy seller

Water Color Maps

has several adorable kids maps that are perfect to frame. 

4.

Toys

: Look for toys that feel unique to the area your visiting

5.

Artwork

: Hands down my favorite find was being able to locate artwork for my kids walls. When you buy artwork during your travels there's often a story behind it which makes the piece much more special. Plus whenever you see the artwork it will remind you and your children of the vacation. 

6.

Regional Candy

: Most kids love candy, and its always fun to try out candy for different parts of the country and visually see the difference and taste it. I bought my husband and kids several treats to try out from my holiday. 

7.

License Plate

: As I mentioned above, my son loved the License plate gift. While visiting the gift shops, look for fun novelty license plates, they make great decorations in kids rooms. The one I found for my son is branded with his favorite soccer team Manchester United. I totally scored cool mom points with the find. 

I hope you've enjoyed my roundup of present ideas for kids, I love finding special presents for my children that have a story behind it.